For anyone who hasn’t read the books: the entire Hunger Games trilogy is depressing. It’s about death, oppression, and romance that is doomed to fail. But it’s also an incredible story. The problem is that most people loved the first film, tolerated the second, and are now unfairly bashing the third; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.

One of the reasons so many people dislike the movie is that they also dislike the book. And I’ll be honest, the book Mockingjay is probably the worst (in a relative sense, because the overall series is generally phenomenal) of the Hunger Games trilogy. But there are specific reasons why this part of the story is worse, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the film.

The first novel is incredible because we have Katniss. She’s not exactly optimistic, but she’s strong, unfaltering, stubborn, and defiant, even in the face of those she secretly fears. This holds true for most of the second book, Catching Fire, but it completely falls apart in Mockingjay.

In Mockingjay, Katniss has lost one of the only people she cares about in the world; Peeta. It would have been easier for her to accept if he had died, but instead, Peeta is used as a pawn by President Snow (who is comparable only to Voldemort and various villains). President Snow attempts to smother the revolt ignited by Katniss by torturing Peeta, and making him unreachable.

This destroys Katniss. The strong, unfaltering protagonist who dominates this first novel is essentially gone in the third.

This unfortunate development (Katniss’s transformation) can be seen as a fault made by the author, Suzanne Collins, that ruins the entire trilogy; or as an inevitable, particularly rock-bottom but essential point in the plot of the story. Either way, it’s necessary to include in the film in order to stay true to the trilogy. But it’s one of the reason’s people are critiquing Mockingjay rather harshly.

The majority of the cast remains the same, with Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Woody Harrelson, among others. One new addition was Julianne Moore, who plays President Coin, leader of District 13.

While the length of his time on screen is maybe two minutes total, Josh Hutcherson establishes high caliber acting with every moment. His character, Peeta Mellark, is held hostage by the government and only appears on a type of webcam through most of the film; but he still manages to convey the sense of urgency and betrayal that is vital to explain the behavior of Katniss.

Jennifer Lawrence’s performance is particularly intense and serious because her character, Katniss, acts like a completely different person. Her work isn’t flawless and there are times in the beginning when the extremes of her behavior become slightly ingenuine. However, her charm soon takes control and she truly becomes her character, especially towards the middle of the film when Katniss gains back some of her toughness, and particularly during the Hanging Tree moment.

That scene, in which Jennifer Lawrence sings the song The Hanging Tree, is one aspect of the film that has seen all-around success. The song was taught to Katniss by her father and ends up being a symbol of the rebellion. The lyrics are written in the book Mockingjay, but the melody was yet to be determined for the film. Producers contacted the folk-rock band The Lumineers to bring the song to life.

In one day, they created a hit. In fact, the song is such a success that it is headed for a top 40 debut on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mockingjay Part 1 may not be the best film of the series, but we’ll have to wait until November 2015 for Part 2 to judge it fairly.